1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an open form, disposable bag used to contain a material, particularly bodily fluids, and more particularly to a device to contain emesis.
2. Prior Art
During and after emesis, it is important that the body fluid be contained to prevent further exposure of the patient and staff to such fluids as stated in Federal OSHA Requirement 29 CFR section 1910.1030. It is also important that a good sealing device be used on the containment device to prevent further leakage or spillage of the contaminants. Currently, patients are frequently required to vomit into a hard plastic or stainless steel kidney-shaped bowl which only precariously contains contaminants within its small boundaries and also provides no means of sealing contaminants after emesis occurs. Such prior art emesis basins also require that the patient continually hold the bowl. Alternately, a large polymeric type of disposal bag such as a garbage bag has been employed to contain emesis. Such bags can be difficult to maintain in an open position if, for example, one of the user's hands is occupied elsewhere and do not retain their "open mouthed" shape without the intervention of the user. Neither bags nor emesis bowls provide means of sealing off contaminants and require the patient to continually hold the container during use.
As used hereinafter, the term "open form" refers to a container having an open end and a closed end in which the open end is normally held open by means integral with the container while the term "closed form" refers to a bag in which the end through which material is introduced into the container is normally closed and must be opened prior to use. Several devices currently exist that teach the advantages of using a closed form, press-and-seal closure bag to contain body fluids. Representatives of these fluid containment devices are U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,932,791; 3,283,412; 3,797,734, and 4,990,145 incorporated herein by reference. Such containment devices often rely on the cooperative engagement of many separate parts and do not address nor incorporate the necessary components to provide an open form mechanism and a press-and-seal closure in a unitary construction. Prior art devices can also restrict the volume and forcefulness of the emesis and rely fully on the patient or other person for stabilization and control of the device.
Fleury, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,990,145, referenced above, describes an emesis bag with a shield to protect the user's hand from contamination during vomiting. The device comprises a "duck-bill" valve opening in the top of a bag through which bodily fluids are introduced into the bag. The valve is normally in a closed position. It is necessary to open the bag by squeezing the valve in order to introduce fluids therein. Thus, the user must squeeze the bag with at least one hand both prior to and during fluid introduction. Such a container satisfies the description of a "closed form" bag as defined hereinabove.
In an earlier patent, U.S. Pat. No. 3,797,734, Fleury, et al., provide a closed form container for bodily fluids which also requires squeezing to open the bag. A valve prevents the backflow of fluid from the container. No device is currently available that can affix to the patient, be preset and remain in an open form for the hand-free introduction of fluid thereinto, and has a press-and-seal means thereon for proper positive closure.